Prince Mal Drevlyansky. Prince Igor and Prince Mal

The history of our country is permeated with mysteries and riddles, in recent years scientists have raised huge questions written by Nestor "The Tale of Bygone Years." It always found some inconsistencies and white spots, but for several years historians and archaeologists have been studying it quite seriously. And sometimes their discoveries contradict everything that we knew before.

Recently a new version of the appearance of Slavs and the role of Drevlyan tribes in the formation of the state appeared in the scientific community. Yes, yes, you did not misinterpret - it was the Drevlyane tribes. Those who paid tribute to Prince Igor and treacherously killed him. But is it treacherous? Let's look at the story a bit from a different angle.

"The Tale of Bygone Years": Official History

Modern Russians know practically nothing about who Prince Mal is. Despite the fact that it was a fairly well-known and influential historical figure, in ancient chronicles it is rather difficult to find mention of it. The only known mention of this person is "The Tale of Bygone Years", in which the dialogue between Prince Igor and Prince Mal is described. As a result, the Drevlyan ruler led the uprising and killed the almost unarmed Russian prince. And then he also begged his wife Olga, for which he paid with his people and his own life.

A sad story, is not it? Especially since in the Russian chronicles neither before this period nor after Prince Mal Drevlyansky is mentioned. He, along with his state, in the opinion of the chroniclers, seemed to have simply disappeared. But in reality, this simply could not be, and any educated person will see in this interpretation of historical facts some understatement.

Of course, to understand this and find out the truth is quite difficult. Moreover, it is difficult to discern real events behind the dust of centuries, and one can only put forward hypotheses. However, we will still try to gather information from various sources in small pieces to tell you who exactly Prince Mal and his people, nicknamed in the Tale of Bygone Years, are wild and dense.

Drevlyane: history of the people and location

If we take a modern map, the former territories of the Drevlyans will fall just on the Zhytomyr region. And the capital of the ancient state was the city of Iskorosten, which is now known as Korosten. Remember that this city is not too far from Kiev. This fact will be very useful later.

The origin of the Drevlyans is not known very much. According to one version, Prince Mal is a descendant of the people of the Dulebas, and on the other, the Drevlyane were a fragment of the Ready tribe who settled in these forests and strove to preserve their identity with all their might. In favor of the latest version, many scientists say, because the fact that the tribes were ready to pass through this land has been known for a long time.

In addition, the Goths considered themselves descendants of the ancient and powerful ancestor of Amal, therefore it is not surprising that the prince of Drevlyan Mal, who was practically a savage in the Russian chronicles, considered himself equal to Princess Olga and confidently asked for her hand. This fact has always embarrassed scientists, because do not take the princess of the Drevlyan ruler as an equal, she would not communicate with the embassy from him and conduct any negotiations. This always led historians to think about concealing the noble origin of the prince in ancient sources.

Many historians who studied the ancient chronicles came to a shocking conclusion - the Drevlyan princedom together with Iskorosten was formed much earlier than Kiev, the recognized founder of the Russian state. If you believe this version, then Kiev was formed as a trading city, and only after many years the capital of the principality was moved here. But the ruler was the prince of Drevlyavsk, Askold, who led an active trade and inclined his people to Christianity.

It is worth noting that the Drevlyane were pagans, and they did not like such innovations of the prince. As a result of the plot, Askold was killed by Prince Oleg, the father of a minor Igor, and the Drevlyans were taxed and turned into vassals of Kiev. An unusual look at history, is not it? In this light, all subsequent events are seen to be quite different than Nestor told them.

Pedigree of Prince Mala

Prince Mal Drevlyansky was from a very noble family. This is said about the partially preserved annals in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Unfortunately, the Drevlyane themselves did not keep the chronicles. This allowed Nestor to regard them as an extremely savage people, but modern historians are greatly surprised by this fact and are forced to search for the reasons for such evocative indifference to their history. It is known for certain that there is not a single written source in the Drevlyan language, although the tribes themselves communicated quite actively with the meadows, bagpies and other neighbors who owned the written language and brought to our days some information about the Drevlyans.

According to these testimonies, Prince Mal is a direct descendant of Kiy, elected to the reign of the elders in Kiev. All the Drevlyane people come from the great Beloyar Krivorg, who managed to lay several fortresses defending the vast lands of the principality. The name "Drevlyane" is not toponymic, many historians believe that it came from neighboring tribes. They carefully watched their terrible neighbors and were especially surprised at their desire to settle in the most dense forests. This is how the name of the whole nation appeared, which has survived to the present day.

It is worth noting that, judging by the descriptions, Drevlyane differed remarkable strength and health. And their princes were quite tall and physically strong people, they went alone to a bear and could defeat him with their bare hands. Great Patriarch Mala Prince Warrior actively founded the fortresses and advocated the unification of his people. A grandfather named Yartur became practically the tutor of his grandson, since Mal's father died before his birth on the hunt. About the mother and father of the prince of Drevlya practically nothing is known, the only clarification of the chroniclers concerned the origin of the mother of Prince Mal. She was the daughter of Yartur, so the young prince was educated by his grandfather in the traditions of his people since his youthful nails.

Life and customs of the Drevlyans

Traditions and traditions of the Drevlyans reached our days in the form of fragmentary and rather contradictory information. It is known that Drevlyane welcomed polygamy and often stealing brides in neighboring tribes. They lived in semi-dugouts, which were supplemented with log buildings of solid logs. In one house lived about fifty people, it also kept all the food supplies and dwelled livestock. Slavery was accepted in the tribes, strong and healthy captives were sent to cut down the forest and build fortresses.

Dark picture is formed, because you can say that the described customs are characteristic only for the most backward and warlike tribes. However, do not make hasty conclusions, our information can change your opinion about the Drevlyans. For example, any slave in five years became a free man and could choose where to live. Some returned to their homeland, while others chose their wives and became members of the tribe. But they could not have several wives, these Drevlyane limited the alien race. Offspring from an alien could not be more than pure-bred Drevlyans.

The legend of the theft of girls, too, does not really look so terrible. Drevlyane could only bride the bride with her consent. Usually in May, there were show-offs when young men, elders and beauties of the right age gathered in a large clearing. When the choice of a companion of life occurred, she came to her husband's house, which the elders had to witness. From this moment the marriage was considered a prisoner.

Perhaps this is amazing for modern people, but the Drevlyane could not get divorced. From the time of marriage, the young man was considered an adult and could serve in the tribe. Elders at the time of marriage agreed on the content of the wife and future children. If a man violated these rules, he could be put into service to his family for the rest of his life. In some cases, he was expelled from the tribe, and a new husband was selected for the woman. A man could have as many wives as his income allowed. In the event of the death of the breadwinner, all wives were distributed between the husband's relatives by mutual consent.

Murder, theft, adultery and other sins were severely punished. For example, for the murder of the guilty person was connected face to face with his victim and buried in the living. Just as severely, other offenses were punished.

Religion and sacral knowledge of the Drevlyans

Drevlyane were pagans, they believed in the spirits of nature and plants. With special trepidation they belonged to ancient oaks. Some historians are seriously working on a version according to which druids and drevlyane have common roots. Many parallels involuntarily come to mind scientists. This is an unusual belief in the spirits of the forest, the lack of written language, cruel customs and even unprecedented knowledge of healing, equal to which was not among all the Slavic tribes.

Virtually all diseases were treated with herbal infusions, ointments and decoctions. Some recipes, recorded from the words of the Drevlyans, have survived to this day. On them it is possible to judge, how much extensive knowledge about the nature was at Drevlyane.

Prince Mal: Years of Life

To find the date of birth of the Drevlyan prince, historians had to work hard. It is believed that Mal was born in 890. Yartur gave the name to his grandson, and, according to one version, he was so named for being born small, but extremely strong. In addition, chroniclers claim that since the birth of the boy had a hump. This circumstance is attributed to the fact that Mal's mother fell from her horse during pregnancy and harmed the future child.

Other sources say that the boy was born small, but very healthy and only at the age of three fell from his horse. After which he began to grow a hump. Despite this, the prince possessed beautiful features and extraordinary strength. Like his ancestors, he easily coped with the bear and was an extremely fair ruler.

Little is known about the rule of Prince Mal. "The Tale of Bygone Years" represents him as a man who lured Prince Igor and brutally dealt with him, raising the insurrection in nine hundred and forty-five. A year later he was murdered by the widow of Igor Olga, who four times avenged the death of her husband. And if we go deeper into historical events, what will we see?

Prince Mal: the uprising of 945

In the textbooks of history, the prince's actions are seen as an uprising against the legitimate authority of the Kiev ruler. But was it really so? We know that Prince Igor went on a campaign for a tribute, which the tribes regularly paid him. Drevlyane gave the prince who arrived with the druzhina all that was laid down and with a calm soul let him go. But Igor had little treasure, he was deceived by the wealth of the Drevlyans and he listened to his governor Sveneld who persuaded the prince to go to Drevlyanska land again.

How is this treated? At least as a violation of the treaty, which the tribes adhered to. Besides, Nestor does not stop at Sveneld's personality, but it would be worth talking about him in detail. The fact is that the voevoda was considered the successor of Prince Oleg, who once won the victory over the Drevlyans. He was quite greedy, cruel and hypocritical. But he managed to get into the confidence in Igor and even got the right to collect tribute from the Drevlyans. Here lies the whole point of the tragedy: after obtaining his own, the wily governor decided to get more good by someone else's hands and beat the prince to a repeated campaign. In addition, he persuaded Igor to send his squad back home, so as not to divide the warriors into prey. What is this, if not extreme greed?

It's no wonder that Prince Mal did not greet the Russian prince with goodness, but he still tried to develop him. After an unsuccessful attempt to stop the robbery of the Drevlyans (and this is exactly what it looked like), Igor was seized and executed as a criminal. According to the customs of the time, the Drevlyane had every right to punish the violator of the treaty and the thief who came to their land to take someone else's. According to the rules of the Slavs, these actions were legal. In this light, Prince Igor and Prince Mal look completely different historical figures than Nestor imagined them.

Massacre of the Drevlyane: truth or fiction?

According to the "Tale of Bygone Years", Prince Mal, having got rid of Igor, wooed to his widow. This, in case of success, could restore to him the Kiev throne and conclude an eternal peace between the peoples. In response, Olga twice exterminated Drevlyanskih ambassadors, it was a terrible massacre in which about five thousand people died. Then the princess reflected on how to punish the Drevlyanite prince Mal. Voevoda Pretić with his squad invited Olga to collect an army and destroy Iskorosten along with the rebel. As the grieving widow did, the city was burned, the drevlyane was surrounded with a new tribute, and Prince Mal's head was hoisted to the peak. Beautiful legend. But is that true?

In fact, historians very much doubt that everything described by Nestor was true. And for that there are several reasons:

• Istorosteni stood not far from Kiev (we talked about this at the beginning of the article) and about the massacre of the first embassy, Prince Mal could not help knowing;
• Archaeologists could not find reliable evidence of a mass slaughter in Kiev and did not find the burials of such a large number of people;
• According to the laws of that time, even "blood feud" could not justify the murder of five thousand people;
• Historians have found a reference to the fact that Princess Olga lived for seven years in Iskorosten with her son (and the city was allegedly destroyed).

All this information forces us to seek new facts about the fate of the prince of Drevlya.

So what really happened to Prince Mal after 945?

But this is the biggest mystery in this story. Scientists have put forward a hypothesis that is most similar to real events. According to the law of "blood feud", Princess Olga had to take revenge for the death of her husband, but she did not want to do it. Therefore, at the meeting with the Drevlyansky embassy, an agreement was concluded, according to which the princess set a fixed tax to the Drevlyans and "fictitiously" destroyed Istoreni allegedly out of revenge. As a result, Olga went to the walls of the city, where there was no one of the nobility, and burned only a small part of it, without harming the Drevlyans.

According to some reports, since 947, Olga lived in a city allegedly burnt by her. Local residents still show visitors to her bathing places and other places where, according to legend, the princess loved to walk.

And what about Prince Mal? About his fate nothing is known, historians can only build versions and guesses of what happened to him. But until today in Korosten live people whose surname originated from the second name of the prince - Niskinich. They consider themselves descendants of the great princely family.

Where is the Drevlyan prince immortalized?

Monument to Prince Malu is established in the city of Korosten. This stunning ten-meter-high copper figure towers over the river Uzh, where, according to legend, Prince Igor was executed, a Derevyan, who was loyal to the court. Prince Mal is depicted in an ancient Russian garment with a huge heavy sword, his gaze is directed to the distance and is filled with thoughts of his people.

Conclusion

It is not known whether the Drevlyan prince actually looked like this, as his sculptor portrayed. But his fate and deeds are extremely interesting for scientists. They offer to look at familiar historical events from a different point of view. Who knows, maybe that's how it all was sometime in the distant nine hundred and forty-fifth year.